


In Which Souji Hears The Voices Of The Dead

by nakadoo



Series: Life is Normal but its not so bad [4]
Category: Persona 3, Persona 4
Genre: Crossover, Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-04-24
Updated: 2014-05-20
Packaged: 2018-01-20 16:07:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,619
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1516757
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nakadoo/pseuds/nakadoo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>But really, it’s only just…</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Can You Hear Me?

Ever since the weird occurrences started in Inaba, Souji found that he heard more voices in his head than what he was used to. Don’t misunderstand, the only voices he heard prior to Inaba was his own, though they were like different versions of himself in his head.

Basically, Souji was prone to talking to himself and zoning out.

But no, since Inaba, he’s been hearing voices of unknown beings, telling him that the strength of his heart, and the feelings that his friends have for him have made him stronger. He didn’t quite understand it back then, but now he just doesn’t mind it. The voices mostly stopped anyway.

Except for this one voice that he’s been hearing for the longest time, though he never really noticed it before.

He looked at his test, wondering what the answer to the questions was. It was on the tip of his tongue, but it escaped him like grains of sands slipping through his fingers.

“It’s the cold wars,” a quiet voice said at the back of his mind. 

He was pretty sure that it wasn’t his own voice this time, but nonetheless, he wrote down the answer and continued with his test.

\--

As he was waiting for the bus to get to his apartment, the voice rang out through his head once more. “You’re finally listening to me,” the voice informs, and for some reason Souji sees blue.

“Who are you?” Souji says, thinks actually, in reply.

“I’m just like you,” the voice tells him. “But you're alive and I’m not.”

Souji got into the bus, quite perplexed. “Are you… me?”

The voice chuckled softly. “No, I’m a different person.”

“Will you tell me who you are?” Souji questioned again. He looked out the window like nothing was wrong, but there were so many questions running through his mind. He wondered if it was bothering the voice in his head.

He felt a presence beside him, it was cold and it didn’t leave, and he couldn’t help but turn his head. No one was beside him, at least not visibly, and he probably looked a little spooked right now.

“Check the obituaries of 2010,” the voice said in an almost joking manner. “Look for a handsome young man, who died of unusual causes.”

Souji scoffed. “Full of yourself?”

“Aware of the assets that I have,” the voice countered back. “I wonder, though, why you only noticed me now.”

Souji rolled his shoulders. “I guess it’s because my mind is a little more clear now. Have you always been here..? In my mind, I suppose.”

“Yes,” the voice replied curtly. “I have for quite a while, you are one of the only people that I can communicate with.”

“I’m a mediator now?” Souji mused out loud. “Can’t really say that it’s weird.”

“You could be just crazy,” the voice said. “I thought, for a while, that I was crazy too.”

“Who else can hear you?” Souji asked curiously. “How many more?”

“Two more,” the voice replied. “Though they can’t help me at the moment, they’re too far away.”

“You’re… Kind of like a ghost, aren’t you?” Souji tilted his head to the side in confusion. “Can’t you just… fly? Or something?”

“They can’t accomplish what I want them to, but you can,” the voice replied.

Souji got off the bus, slowly walking towards the apartment that he lived in by himself. It was small, but Souji didn’t really need that much space. Though, he hoped that when Yosuke finally moved in with him, he wouldn’t mind. If worse comes to worse, they can just find a new place to stay.

Letting his bag fall down on the floor, Souji plopped down on his bed and let out a sigh. The voices in his head always caused him headaches and he’s grown used to them but they still always hurt a lot.

“I used to sleep the head aches away,” the voice chimed in, and the cold presence was at his side once again. “It helped a lot, perhaps you should sleep.”

Souji shook his head. “I can manage,” he replied, but remained laying on his bed, his arm draped across his eyes to block out the light. He spoke out loud now, because the quiet of his room was something that he didn’t appreciate much. “What is it that you want me to help you with?”

He felt the presence sit beside him, and he swore to himself he could feel someone playing with his hair. It was soothing, though it made him miss Yosuke just a little bit. He sighed, letting himself relax in the phantom touch of… whoever it was.

“I need you to go back to Tatsumi Port Island,” the voiced said softly, as if it didn’t want to disturb Souji’s rest. “There are a few people that need closure,” the voice sighed, and Souji felt a cool hand resting on his forehead. “Some people still don’t accept the fact that I’m dead, and though it seems like they’re moving forward with their lives, they’re just lying to themselves and running away from the truth.”

Souji raised his eyebrows.

“I know, it sounds pretentious,” the voice said with a laugh. “But I don’t want to leave this world with regrets.”

“I understand,” Souji replied. “Can it wait till Golden Week?” he asked, sitting up to fetch himself a glass of water. “I still have exams to take care of.”

“Of course,” the voice replied.  
\--

He wasn’t expecting Yosuke to drop by during Golden Week, and he couldn’t quite explain to him why he needed to go to Iwatodai.

“I just have a few things to do,” Souji told his boyfriend as they entered the monorail. “Sorry about that.”

Yosuke smiled brightly at him, sitting down and scooting over to give room for Souji. “It’s cool, I should have told you earlier,” he said shrugging. “I don’t mind at all!”

“Iwatodai is the last station, we’re going to be here for a while,” Souji said apologetically. “We don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“Well, we’re together so it wont be so bad,” Yosuke said, smiling once more. “Besides, it’s been a while since we’ve talked to each other face to face, and I want to take this chance to do that. I miss your voice.”

Souji let a smirk out, taking Yosuke’s hand in his own. “I missed you.”

“You’re incredibly sweet,” the voice interrupted, and he felt the cool presence at his free side. “It’s almost a little hard to believe.”

Souji cleared his throat, a slight blush tinting his cheeks and he hoped that Yosuke didn’t notice. “Shut up,” he thought loudly.

Yosuke held his hand tightly. “So, how’ve you been? I know that you’re used to being alone and all but I still worry that you’re all on your own in the big bad city,” he said just loud enough that only they could hear. He sighed, making an upset face at no one in particular. “I honestly don’t like the though of you being alone.”

“He’s your boyfriend, huh?” the voice asked curiously. “That’s really cute.”

“Shut up,” Souji muttered under his breath. Fortunately, Yosuke didn’t notice.

“Souji?”

“Sorry, what?” Souji asked Yosuke. “I was a little bit distracted.”

“I said, are you eating properly?” the brunette asked. “You look a little thinner.”

“I am,” Souji nodded.

“Liar,” the voice countered. “Tell him the truth.”

Souji sighed. “No, actually, I’m not,” he corrected himself, deciding that the truth was probably better. “I’ve been having headaches lately so I just fall asleep the instant I get home,” he said, leaning back against his chair.

“Are you okay?” Yosuke asked, concerned. “Should I stay with you the entire week?”

Souji smiled. “You should, even if I wasn’t feeling a little sick.”

“Smooth,” the voice said, and Souji swears he can see a smile. “Real Casanova.”

“Heh,” Yosuke leaned against Souji, closing his eyes and nuzzling his boyfriend’s hair. “That was the plan from the start.”

A few hours into the train ride, Yosuke had fallen asleep with his headphones on, his head resting on Souji’s shoulder. His hand was still holding Souji’s, and it didn’t look like he was going to let go any time soon.

“So,” Souji said. “What do I have to do?”

“Your boyfriend has great taste in music,” the voice said and Souji felt the cold presence between him and Yosuke. “Makes me wish I was still alive so I could talk to him about it.”

Souji looked over at his boyfriend, hearing weird and foreign music from his headphones. He raised his eyebrows in question but said nothing.

“Oh, yes. I need you to talk to someone.”  
\--

“Uh, Souji, you know this is technically our first official date,” Yosuke had said, still holding his boyfriend’s hand as they stood in front of a very intimidating looking building. “But this isn’t exactly how I envisioned it would be.”

Souji coughed nervously, looking at the building with the same amount of unease as his boyfriend. Thankfully, he had enough courage to walk forward, pushing the glass doors open as the smell of sweat and testosterone filled their senses. He looked around, noticing quite a few body builders with very impressive bodies.

“If this is some sort of joke,” Yosuke said a sheepishly, “Now is probably the best time to say it.”

“No joke,” Souji told him, walking up to the person behind the desk.

“Good morning!” The man had greeted them enthusiastically. “Are you here to acquire a membership in our gym?”

Souji shook his head no, as Yosuke looked around curiously. “No, I’m actually looking for someone.”

“His name is Akihiko Sanada,” the voice told him.

The man who greeted them raised his eyebrows. “Who may I ask are you looking for?”

“A Sanada-san?” Souji told him. “Akihiko Sanada.”

The man smiled. “Oh, yes! Mister Sanada is here today, you’re just in luck!” he said, standing up. “Let me show you where he is.”

Souji followed, tugging Yosuke along with him.

“Sanada-san,” the man called up to the people in the boxing ring. “There are people here to see you.”

Akihiko dodged the punch that was aimed at his face, beautifully countering it with a hit of his own. His opponent staggered back and raised his gloves up in defense, calling the game up for now. Akihiko nodded, pulling off his mouth piece as his jumped out of the ring to the two young men who were waiting for him.

“How do you know this guy?” Yosuke asked. That guy could probably knock him unconscious. He made a note to stay on his good side.

“I don’t, actually,” Souji admitted.

“Hey, sorry to keep you waiting.” Akihiko greeted, wiping the sweat of his brow. “How can I help you? Are you here to ask for boxing lessons or something?”

Souji shook his head. “Uh, may we speak somewhere more private?”

Akihiko nodded, gesturing for them to follow him into a vacant room. “So, what’s this about? Are you looking for a partnership with the Kirijo group or something? Because if that’s so, you’ve come to the wrong guy; I’m not their representative.”

“It’s not that, either,” Souji replied.

“Ask him if he knows where Yukari Takeba is,” the voice told him.

“Are you aware of the location of Yukari Takeba?” Souji asked as instructed.

He and Yosuke waited nervously, not even aware of the fact that they were still holding hands. Akihiko had taken a more serious look, and Souji thought that maybe he should have worded the question better.

“I am,” Akihiko nodded. “But who are you?”

“I have a message for her,” Souji replied. “I’m Souji Seta and this is Yosuke Hanamura,” he introduced.

“Hanamura?” Akihiko echoed. “Aren’t you the owner of Junes in the Inaba district?”

“That’s my dad,” Yosuke replied sheepishly. “You know of him?”

Akihiko nodded. “I was sponsored once by your dad, I think.”

“Uh, so about Yukari,” Souji interrupted.

“Oh yeah,” Akihiko said. “I can take you to her, if you like. Though I’m a little bit worried about what you have to do with her.”

\--

Yosuke and Souji found themselves in the back of the car of Akihiko Sanada, not really sure where he was taking them.

“What’s going on,” Yosuke whispered. 

Souji looked out the window, then back to Yosuke. “Sorry, Yosuke, but I honestly don’t know.”

“What!” Yosuke exclaimed, then remembered to keep his voice down. “What do you mean, you don’t know?”

Souji sighed. “Just… I guess it’s my instinct?”

Yosuke squeezed his hand a little.

“We’re here,” Akihiko said, parking his car in front of an apartment building. He looked back at his two passengers and raised an eyebrow. “Is there a problem?”

“No problems,” Yosuke told him, giving a smile.

Akihiko nodded. “Alright, lets go.”

The elevator ride up the apartment was quiet and awkward, and they were even stopped by a security guard before they even got to enter this Yukari’s apartment.

The apartment was incredible. It was the penthouse, after all. Upon closer inspection out the window, there was an actual shooting range for archery. Yosuke looked out the window in awe, momentarily forgetting the awkward and confusing situation that they were in.

“Takeba,” Akihiko called, sitting down on the couch like he was often over. “You’ve got visitors.”

“Is it the paparazzi?” asked a girl, coming out of a room with only a towel around her body. She raised her eyebrows, seeing two young boys admiring the archery range. She huffed at Akihiko and frowned, retreating back into her room. “Senpai, you should have told me they were already in the room.”

Yosuke and Souji sat down beside Akihiko, waiting for the girl to come back out.

“Just say exactly as I say,” the voice told Souji.

Souji gulped nervously. 

When Yukari had joined them, she offered them some tea and sat down across from them. “So, you are?”

“Souji Seta and Yosuke Hanamura,” Souji introduced. “I have to relay a message to you.”

Yukari and Akihiko raised their eyebrows.

“It might sound a little bit crazy,” Souji started. “But please hear me out.”

The two elders looked at each other a little skeptically and then nodded.

“Yukari, you’ve grown into a wonderful woman,” Souji repeated the words that he was being told. “I’m glad that you’ve been dealing with life well, but there are a few things that need to be discussed. I know the pain you’ve gone through, I know how difficult it has been to deal with your mother and I’m sorry that I couldn’t go with you to meet her.” Souji paused, waiting for the voice to say more.

Yukari looked shocked, Yosuke and Akihiko looked confused.

“But despite that, you’ve stayed so brave and persisted. I’m so proud of you,” Souji continued, feeling a little bit awkward but his expression was impeccable. “But there still lays a heavy burden on your heart, and I want you to know that it’s not your fault, it’s nobody’s fault that I passed on—“

“What—“ Akihiko interrupted, confusion and shock encompassing his features. “What are you talking about?”

Yukari looked a little bit angry. “Who are you?”

“I’m just the messenger,” Souji replied calmly. “Please let me continue…”

“Tch…” Akihiko nodded, letting Souji continue.

Souji gulped quietly, and felt Yosuke squeeze his hand. He looked over at the brunet and found that he was smiling at him in a way that made him feel less nervous.

“I want you and the others to live your lives without regret. My life had meaning, and it was thanks to all of you. Don’t grieve, don’t be sad; my life was a happy one, as short as it was, and I am happy that I was able to give it up, since that meant all of you would be safe.” Souji let out a breath. The voice went silent.

“May I ask who gave you that message?” Yukari asked quietly. She was looking down at her feet, her expression unreadable from where Souji was. 

Souji nodded. “Minato Arisato.”


	2. Only In Your Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lets talk

“Oh, it’s you.”

His voice is so placid and calm that he finds himself relaxing despite the unusual environment around him. The sky looked green, the moon too bright to seem natural but he didn’t really think twice about it. What caught his attention was the young man leaning against the railings of the long moonlight bridge. His hair was blue, pretty odd to say the least, and his posture was lax. Souji approached him.

“I didn’t really call you here, so you must have come here of your own volition,” the boy assumed, pulling off his earphones to be polite. “To be honest, it’s kind of rude of you to barge in on my private time,” despite the words coming out of his mouth, he had a smile on his face.

Souji shrugged, leaned against the railing beside the blue haired boy. He looked up at the moon; it looked unnaturally huge, keeping his gaze up at the weird sky. “It’s not like I made the conscious decision to visit you,” he replied. To be honest, he doesn’t even really know where they are. Though, it looked pretty familiar. For the life of him though, he can’t quite recall how he got here.

The blue haired boy nodded, looking down at the mp3 player that hung around his neck. It was off, but for some reason he was looking down at it pensively, like the music was still playing or something. “We’re connected,” he muttered quietly, but everywhere else was as quiet as death so Souji heard it loud and clear. “Whether you want us to be or not.”

“I don’t mind that we’re connected,” Souji commented, bringing his gaze back down to the boy beside him. He was shorter, and looked a little bit younger than he was but for some reason, Souji felt this air around the boy that oozed responsibility and maturity. He never thought that he’d feel like a child, a lot of people always praised him for his maturity, but around this boy, he couldn’t help but feel small.

“So you know who I am?” The blue haired boy smiled kindly at him, turning his attention to the silver haired persona user.

“Minato,” Souji nodded. “Practically my senpai,” he added thoughtfully. “You hardly look a day older than I am though.”

Minato laughed, looking back up at the sky. “Thank you.”

They spent a few minutes just watching the moon, not really talking but the need for words wasn’t really necessary.

“How are you handling things?” Minato asked, disrupting the silence between them and started walking down the road. His shoes clacked against the gravel, and soon it was followed by Souji’s footsteps as well.

Souji caught up with him, not really a problem seeing as he was taller. “Handling what things?”

“Moving back to the city?” Minato raised his eyebrows at him, his hands shoved deep into his pockets. 

Souji shrugged his shoulders. “It’s the same,” he started, looking forward at the crashed cars in front of them. There were no people; there were no sounds, save for their footsteps echoing in the dark. “I’ve grown used to moving around. I’ve never really had a place to call home.”

“I know how you feel,” Minato said quietly. “I guess I do.”

“Tell me about yourself, Minato-san,” Souji found himself saying, a little bit surprised that talking to Minato was as easy as talking to someone he’s known all his life, even easier than talking to his parents if he had to be honest.

Minato shook his head, stopped in front of a crashed car and kicked it’s wheel with a dull thud. “There isn’t much to talk about.” He reached into his pocket, pulling out a key that looked very familiar to Souji. “I was born, and I died. Thus is life.”

“Surely there’s more to that,” Souji said with a small frown. He reached into his pocket as well, pulling out his key that shone almost as bright as the moon. He let it rest in his palm, looking over at Minato’s key. The other boy’s key was bronze, shaped similarly as his own, but lacked the bright light that made it so special. “I’d like to know more about you.”

Minato smiled sadly. “I wouldn’t want to turn this into a pity party.” He pushed his key into Souji’s hand, folding Souji’s fingers over both keys gently. “It’s yours, it doesn’t have a purpose to me anymore.”

Souji frowned, but pushed both of the keys back into his pocket. “Please tell me about yourself,” he insisted, sitting down on he hood of the crashed car and gesturing for Minato to join him.

Minato relented, joining the other persona user as he began to talk about his uneventful life, until the year he moved into Iwatodai.

“Our relationships…” Minato said, looking very pensive as he looked down at his feet. “They were very strained.” The back of his hand went up, resting lightly against his lips. “There were times that I felt hopeless, like everything that we were doing was all for naught.”

Souji listened intently, his eyes never leaving the other boy as he spoke.

“I thought that the group might fall apart, and it would be my fault,” he laughed a little bitterly, his hair falling to cover his eyes as he averted his gaze. “Whenever we tried to relax, there was always a feeling of impending doom that only we could feel, that only we could shoulder.”

Souji nodded, tentatively wrapping an arm around Minato’s shoulder. He pulled him in close, only now just realizing how cold it was.

Minato leaned into the other, and for once he felt like he didn’t have to carry the burden on his own anymore. Not that there was a burden left for him to carry, at least. “I wish I could have stayed with them,” Minato muttered, turning his head to bury his face into Souji’s arm. “They were the family that I never had.”

Souji couldn’t help it when his eyes began to water. He knows the feeling; the feeling of losing all your friends, watching as they put their lives on the line without hesitation. He was so scared; the last battle they ever faced was one he didn’t want to remember.

“Souji,” Minato interrupted his train of thoughts, looking up at the silver haired boy with a sad smile. “I’m happy,” he said, still leaning heavily against the other boy. “They get to live in peace.”

He was at a loss of words. Would he have had the courage to give up his life like Minato had done? He wasn’t too sure but seeing Minato now, he wished that there were some way that he could have saved him.

“Memento Mori,” Minato sighed. “I want you to cherish the people around you, because you never know when you’ll lose them.” He looked so tired then, leaning more into Souji as he closed his eyes. “I’m going to sleep.”

_Souji?_

“I’ll be here when you wake up,” Souji muttered, brushing Minato’s hair away from his face so he could get a better look at him.

_Souji, listen to me._

“Highly unlikely,” Minato chuckled quietly, peeking his eyes open at the other persona user. He reached his hand up, wiping away a tear from Souji’s face with this thumb, keeping his hand there. “Do not mourn for the dead,” he told the other boy before closing his eyes once more. 

_Souji, wake up!_

He jerked awake, the bed creaking with his sudden movements. He gulped in air like he had run a marathon, his heart racing in his chest, thudding louder than he could ever remember it doing. He looked around his room, dark and dimly lit by the city lights outside. He sighed, a hand over his heart as he tried to calm down.

“Hey, are you alright?” Yosuke whispered, and Souji remembered that he had fallen asleep next to his partner. “You looked like you were in pain—Ah, you’re crying.”

Souji brought a hand to his eyes, feeling the dampness there. “Crap,” he muttered, suddenly remembering everything in his dreams. He couldn’t help himself as his tears started to fall, pressing his sleeve against his eyes in an attempt to stop himself. “S-sorry, I don’t know what’s gotten into me.”

Yosuke pulled him in for a hug, and Souji wrapped his arms around him, burying his face into the crook of Yosuke’s neck.

“It’s alright,” Yosuke cooed, rubbing circles into Souji’s back, shushing him quietly and whispering reassurances into his ear. “It’s alright, just a bad dream…”

Souji nodded, keeping a firm hold on Yosuke like if he let him go he’d disappear. “Y-yosuke,” he whispered after he had calmed down. “Yosuke, I love you.”

Yosuke sighed, letting his chin rest on Souji’s shoulder. “I know, I know,” he cooed, his voice gentle and soothing. “I love you too.”

With one more breath against Yosuke’s neck, Souji pulled back to get a good look at his lover’s face. The brunet’s hair was in disarray, more so than it usually was. His headphones lay around his neck, some weird music coming softly from it. Souji leaned forward and pressed his lips chastely against the others. “Couldn’t sleep?” he asked.

Yosuke gave a small nod, leaning forward to bump their noses together. “Yeah, thought some music could help.”

“Hot chocolate?” Souji offered, rubbing at his eyes.

Yosuke perked up, nodding his head enthusiastically now. “Definitely.”

As they got out of bed, at two in the morning no less and Yosuke looking quite excited for the hot chocolate, Souji couldn’t help but feel the warm weigh of the keys in his pocket.


	3. That's What Boyfriends Are For

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leave it to me

He didn’t hear Minato’s voice after he had woken up, and he didn’t want to think about it too much. After all, Minato did say he was going to sleep.

He just wondered how long he was going to sleep.

“Hey, are you sure you’re alright?” Yosuke asked over brunch. They were at a small family restaurant just across from Souji’s apartment, Yosuke’s hand finding its way to rest on top of Souji’s. “Whatever it was that you were dreaming of must have really bothered you, huh?”

Souji raised his eyebrows at the other boy sitting across from him, his mind wandering elsewhere momentarily. Absentmindedly, his fingers shifted to twine with Yosuke’s. He quite appreciated the fact that Yosuke was so open with being affectionate with him, seeing as he thought it might have been a major hurdle in their relationship; not that touch was important, but it was nice having physical reassurances.

He looked down at his mug of coffee.

“C’mon, man,” Yosuke practically whined. “Talk to me.”

“Huh? Oh, Sorry…” Souji looked back up at Yosuke, a frown on the brunet’s face. He might as well be honest; their whole relationship was established on truth and trust. No point in beating around the bush either. “I dreamed of him.”

“You mean that Arisato person?” Yosuke asked, his free hand idly stirring sugar into his own mug of coffee. “Did he mean a lot to you?”

Souji shook his head. Technically, he had only just met Minato recently but the truth in the other’s words rang clear, even if those words were from his dreams: they were connected, and the keys in his pocket were proof enough of that. “Not… Not exactly. He and I just had a lot in common, so much so that it’s hard not to empathize with him.”

Yosuke didn’t know how to react to that. Empathize with someone who was dead? Then again, Souji has always been a little weird.

“It’s hard to explain,” Souji said after he noticed the confused look on Yosuke’s face. “Technically, I don’t really know him. I barely do,” Souji admitted. “But… I can just… I don’t know, I can feel him.”

“Like a ghost?” Yosuke asked skeptically, pulling his hand away as their food was finally served to them. As much as he would have love to partake in his breakfast right then, there was still something that was bother Souji and he didn’t like how it sat between them. “You’re making as much sense as that Velvety Room stuff you were talking about before.”

Souji’s head shot up, eyes widening a fraction. 

He had only spoken of that room once. It had been when he first saw the door in the T.V. world, he had told Chie and Yosuke that he needed a moment in the Velvet room. When the two had asked what that was he pointed to the door, but apparently it wasn’t there. He never spoke of it again, but Yosuke still remembered.

“Yeah, actually,” Souji said with a nod.

Yosuke had already stuffed his face with rice, his chopsticks hanging in mid air as he chewed his food thoughtfully.

Souji didn’t really find his appetite, so he took the moment to talk.

He reached into his pockets and put the two keys on the table where both of them could see it. His key still glowed bright blue, while Minato’s remained to look like a normal bronze key.

Yosuke tilted his head in silent question.

“These keys are important,” Souji said upon Yosuke’s tilted head. “They are to me, they were to Minato-san.” His key was still bright, glowing like it was agreeing with what Souji was saying.

After Yosuke had swallowed the food in his mouth, he picked up Souji’s key and examined it. “You always have this in your pocket,” he commented, running his fingers against the key. “I always thought it was some kind of memento, or a good luck charm or something.” Yosuke picked up the other key and held them close together as he inspected them. “They’re both the same though, aside from the glow-y thing this one is doing.”

“I’ve been lead to believe that there are two more people with keys that are similar,” Souji said quietly, though the idea that had popped into his mind was near impossible to do.

Yosuke shook his head, placing the keys back down on the table. “Wait, wait, wait,” he started, bafflement spreading across his features. “If I’m understanding what you’re trying to say…” He pursed his lips in thought, and then looked Souji in the eye. “This is like finding a needle in a haystack.”

“Two needles,” Souji offered helplessly.

Yosuke sighed, leaning back into his chair. “Look, I can tell this is really important to you but what you’re planning to do is get yourself stuck in a wild goose chase. To be honest, I’m still a little skeptical about this—“

Souji looked crestfallen upon Yosuke’s words.

“No, don’t give me that look,” Yosuke whined, dragging a hand down his face. “Let me finish, okay?” He said gently. “I’m still skeptical about this, yeah, because what if we do find these people? What then?”

Souji picked up his key; it felt warm in his hands. Minato’s was cold. “I don’t know.”

Yosuke let out an aggravated sigh. “Look, I just don’t want you to get your hopes up too much,” he said, reaching over to push a finger between Souji’s eyebrows because he thought they were knitted too tightly in thought. “We hardly have a grasp on the supernatural, we shouldn’t jump into the fray when we don’t even have a clue as to who those other two people are.”

Souji nodded and let out a sigh, placing the keys back into his pocket. “Sorry, you’re right,” he relented, turning his focus back to his food.

Minato-san did say that the people were too far away for them to accomplish the task Minato had asked him to do.

“Hey,” Yosuke started, sounding apologetic. “Don’t look so down.” He scratched the back of his head, searching for the right words. “I… Sorry if I burst your bubble.”

Souji shook his head and looked up with a light smile. “It’s fine.”

They ate the rest of their meal, idle chatter between the two of them like their conversation prior didn’t happen.  
\--

They were just getting ready for sleep when Souji decided it. He grabbed his wallet and his phone, and anything he might need, and made his way to the door of his apartment.

Yosuke, startled by the abrupt actions of his boyfriend, scrambled up after him, hastily putting on a shirt that he picked up in the dark. He didn’t notice it was one of Souji’s. “P-partner, hey!” he called, following Souji out the door and made a grab for the other boy before he could get into the elevators.

Souji stopped and turned around. Yosuke’s hair was still pretty much messed up, his headphones still around his neck but his mp3 played being dragged on the carpeted floor in his haste to chase him. He looked at the open door of his apartment then back to Yosuke. “The door’s still opened.”

Yosuke shook his head, as if trying to rid himself of his confusion, and pulled on his headphone wire till he could finally make a grab for his mp3. “Dude! You just stormed off!!”

“I just thought of something,” Souji stated as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Yosuke looked exasperated. “It’s nearly midnight!” he complained, and then remembered to keep his voice down when someone else’s head popped out of one of the rooms. He bowed apologetically then looked at Souji again. “Couldn’t it have waited?”

“I can’t—,” Souji muttered. Can’t what? He wasn’t quite sure.

Yosuke tugged at his wrist, pulling him back into the apartment and closed the door behind him. “Look, just… Get back to bed alright?” He practically pushed the taller boy back into his bed and helped him out of his jacket and shoes like he was a child. “Let me handle this, okay?”

Souji opened his mouth to complain. Handle what? Souji wasn’t even sure about what he was just about to do.

Before the words could leave his mouth, Yosuke had pressed his lips against his to shut him up.

It had very successfully shut him up.

“I don’t really get it,” Yosuke whispered. “But I think maybe I kind of do?” Though it was a question, he still sounded sure of himself. “You’re always jumping into action and being the leader and all that,” he muttered, practically pushing the other to lie down on the bed. “And I’m fine with that, but I don’t think you should be doing that right now.”

Souji raised his eyebrows. “What do you mean?”

Yosuke shrugged, placed another chaste kiss against his lips. “You’re not thinking things through,” he said. “But that’s fine, you’ve got me to think things through for you.”

Souji was at a loss for words. The only time his mind had been this confusing was that time with Namatame at the hospital. He sighed, conceding. Maybe Yosuke was right. “My partner,” Souji concluded Yosuke’s sentence with a nod. “Okay, I leave it in your hands.”

Yosuke grinned, slipped under the covers with him.

“By the way,” Souji commented frivolously after he finally relaxed.

“What is it?” Yosuke asked, turning over in the bed to face the other.

“You look good in my shirt.”

Yosuke looked down, blushed and then groaned. “Go to sleep, damn it.”

\--

The next day, he woke up feeling a little better. He reached over to wrap his arms around Yosuke, only to find that the other boy wasn’t there. Sitting up to rub his eyes, he found that Yosuke wasn’t in his room, but the T.V. was on in the living room. He assumed that’s where Yosuke was and stood up, stretching.

He caught sight of Yosuke’s shirt and, with a small grin on his face; he took his own shirt off and put on Yosuke’s. He wondered how Yosuke would react as he walked out of his room, yawning.

There Yosuke was, sitting meekly at the dining table and still wearing his shirt, his attention apparently at something else.

That was when Souji realized that something was cooking, and obviously it wasn’t Yosuke who was cooking.

Souji stepped into the kitchen and his eyebrows shot up in shock. “Mom?”

Yosuke’s head snapped at his direction, his face looking a little bit warm.

“Good morning, dear,” his mother greeted, placing a plate of bacon and eggs down on the table in front of Yosuke and Yosuke squeaked out a thank you.

“What are you doing here?” Souji asked, taking a seat beside Yosuke. “I thought you’d be busy for the whole of golden week.”

“I needed to pick up a few things,” she said, pointing over to a bag with what Souji assumed was a change of clothes. “I thought I could make you some breakfast before I left and then this one,” she used her spatula to point at Yosuke, who once again squeaked out something unintelligible. “Came into the apartment while I was cooking! I thought he was a robber!”

“Sorry,” Yosuke muttered.

Souji explained, as his mother cooked the rest of the meal and joined them for breakfast, that Yosuke was his friend from Inaba and that he came over for Golden Week.

Souji’s mother raised her eyebrows. “Your friend?”

The two boys nodded.

“Then why are you wearing each other’s shirts?”

The two boys froze, only then just realizing that they were indeed wearing each other’s shirts.

Yosuke stammered, trying to find the words, or an excuse.

Souji straightened his back, looked his mother dead in the eye. “I lied, he’s not my friend.” He reached for Yosuke’s hand under the table, raised their interlocked fingers and practically slammed it down on the table. “He’s my boyfriend,” he said very seriously.

Yosuke’s eyes shot wide open, his stammering becoming worse. “D-DUDE, WHAT THE HECK?!”

Souji’s mother raised her eyebrows, a confused look on her face before letting out a small laugh. She checked the time and got out of her chair, grabbing her things in a rush. “We’ll talk about this later,” she stated, walking around the table to give her son a kiss on the forehead, and a pat on the head for Yosuke. “I’m going to be late. Finish your food and brush your teeth,” he called over her shoulder as she finally left, the door clicking softly behind her.

Yosuke sagged against his chair. “Holy hell.”

Souji slumped forward, resting an elbow on the table. “I think I might have lost a life.”

“GEE, YOU THINK?” Yosuke said, a distressed look on his face. “What the heck kind of outing was that?!”

“I panicked,” Souji confessed.

They both sighed, trying to regain their composure.

\--

They were both changed (and they brushed their teeth too!), Yosuke leading the way with Souji’s hand in his.

“Where are we going?” Souji asked, watching the back of Yosuke’s head as they dodged and wove past people on the busy streets. Souji found it a little impressive that Yosuke seemed to know where he was going, despite the fact that he’s only been in this city for three days.

“I told you last night that I’d handle this, didn’t I?” He said, finally making his way to the train station. They lined up, a determined look on Yosuke’s face.

“Yes, but where are we going?” Souji repeated.

“Back to Iwatodai,” Yosuke said, and when they finally reached the ticket booth, he bought two tickets.

Souji looked up at the sky, then to Yosuke’s face. “But why?”

“Just, trust me on this one, okay?”

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly I just wanted ghost minato to talk to souji


End file.
